A BREATH OF COUNTRY AIR

NEW YORK GIRLS GET READY FOR SOME SUMMER FUN IN THE COUNTRYThe News LeaderJuly 9, 2006

When the girls came to stay with the Petersons three summers ago, every minute of their two-week visit was planned. That was a mistake, said Janet Peterson, who will house the girls for the fourth time this summer.

"It was too exhausting," she said with a laugh.

Her eyes focused on the road, she maneuvered the gold Honda Pilot along the highway. She and her daughter drove Friday afternoon to meet Kyonna Williams, 12, and Aaliyah Warren, 10, in Harrisonburg where the girls arrived after roughly 10 hours on the road.

Over the years, Peterson learned to plan excursions but to leave room for flexibility. On Sunday she plans to take the girls rafting at the Jackson River, and on Tuesday they will bake a cake for her grandson's 4th birthday. Still, the girls will have plenty of time to swim in the pool and to decorate the driveway with chalk.

"It's been a learning experience," Peterson said.

Kyonna and Aaliyah are part of the Fresh Air Fund Program, a nonprofit agency that provides free summer vacations in suburbs and small towns to New York City children. About 10,000 children take part each year and 187 visited Virginia last summer.

“We have such a different culture,” said Diana Desper, who chairs the Staunton chapter. “It lets them experience our culture here. Not only that, but it’s also important for the families here.”

Many children develop lasting relationships with their host families, Desper said. Peterson sees the girls only in the summer, but she sends them presents on their birthdays and Christmas.

She volunteered for the program after she learned not all qualified children are given host families because of a lack of volunteers. The brief summer visit is a refreshing experience for the girls, Peterson said.

“It’s a cultural shock, just the different things they talk about,” she said. “We learn from each other.”

At the Kmart parking lot in Harrisonburg, an expectant crowd gathered around the charter bus. One by one, children stepped off the bus and met their host families. Some appeared hesitant, others timid. Kyonna and Aaliyah, among the last to leave, leaned over the rails and waved to their host mom from behind the bus door.

In the car, Peterson and the girls exchanged stories. Aaliyah’s mother complains about the gas prices in New York, she said. They also might move from Queens to North Carolina or Atlanta. Kyonna’s dad is putting up a fence outside their Long Island home. They might get a pool, she said.

The two stared out the windows and marveled at the greenery.

“I miss the hills,” Aaliyah said.

“I know,” said Kyonna.

They couldn’t wait to swim in Peterson’s pool and to play with Piff, a 10-year-old golden retriever. They joked about Kyonna’s suggestion years ago that the brown cow produces strawberry milk.

Aaliyah seemed a far cry from her first stay with the Petersons when she called her mom often because she was homesick. On Friday, Aaliyah talked about her favorite food – all of them.

“They’re all good,” she said. Except for okra, that is.

Kyonna, however, was always the bubbly one. Peterson said Kyonna’s late notice gave her the impression she wasn’t coming this summer.